by Nyk Nova
“Listen,” Kade said. “If that sphere is here, that means Oscerian troops are, too. We need to—”
“I think we can handle Oscerian troops,” The Lugaz soldier said, locking a round in the chamber for emphasis.
“Get back in formation,” Kade ordered.
“You don’t have the leverage to order us. And you definitely don’t have our trust. Poyn, get over here.”
The smaller Lugazian troop looked back and forth between his own people and the Oscerians. “But General Tare said—”
“General Tare isn’t here! I say we don’t need Oscerian’s to find the sword. We know its location is that way.” The defecting troop pointed at a single wall. “So I say we get it ourselves, radio it in then evacuate this place and leave the four of you here.”
“You don’t want to do that,” Tuk said, slowly raising his rifle.”
The Lugaz soldiers quickly raised theirs.
“I don’t know how smart Oscerians are supposed to be,” the troop said. “But if you pull that trigger, we’re cutting you all down.”
“I’ve already been banished once,” Kade said.
“Then you should be used to it. Let’s move out,” the Lugaz troop ordered the others.
Kade kept his eyes on them as they backed away. Only Poyn looked back. It was clear he didn’t think separating was a good idea.
“We’re just going to let them go?” Lyra asked.
“No. We’re going to use them to see what’s ahead,” Kade told her. “You see that wall?” He pointed to the crumbled divider. “Look just above it.”
Lyra did as instructed and saw the capstone to the pyramid.
“That’s how they know where to go,” Kade continued. “If we don’t hear shooting once they’re past that wall, we’ll move in.”
“And then what?” Tuk asked.
“I’m still working on that.”
The Oscerians watched as their enemies marched away. The self appointed leader was the first to disappear on the other side of the wall. The others followed close behind.
Kade gave them a few moments before he finally saw Poyn rushing back toward them. The soldier had dropped his weapons. Whatever was on the other side of the wall had scared him badly enough to make him run to his enemies.
Kade looked back at the wall and could see pieces of it flying up from the other side as rapid gunfire chipped away at it.
“What is it?” Tuk yelled.
“Run!” Poyn yelled back, keeping his eyes toward the front. Eyes that, even from a distance, Kade could tell were full of fright.
Kade knew there was more than just normal gunfire blasting at the Lugazians.
There was no use waiting. Whatever Poyn was running from, he was leading it right toward them. The Oscerians rushed toward the fight, woefully unprepared. But it was better than fleeing in as desolate a place as they’d found themselves.
They weren’t able to get very far before an ABU— very different from the ones they’d faced on Tagle— burst through the wall, hot on Poyn’s tail.
41
The ABU streaked after Poyn, its jet thrusters launching it forward. The metal feet kicked up dirt and sand as it chased after the Lugazian troop.
“Fire!” Kade yelled.
The Oscerians launched a barrage of small arms gunfire at the monstrous armored machine. Their entire attack was futile in the face of the ABU. The only result was in taking its attention off Poyn and making its way toward them.
“We must find cover!” Roland yelled.
“Over there,” Tuk said, pointing at the same building he’d returned from.
“Poyn! On us!” Kade shouted, dashing for the building.
The group made their way to the hollowed out structure with the ABU not far. It seemed like a long shot, fleeing on foot while something with jet thrusters chased after them. But Kade had experience with long shots. At least the ABU hadn’t started firing on them.
The giant attacker rammed into the structure just as the group dove inside it. The building shook and chunks of the support columns broke off but their newfound place of hiding remained standing.
Kade watched as the ABU searched for its quandary. “It’s not trying to get in?”
“And it won’t,” Roland said. “Come, let us get to higher ground that we may better assess things.”
The stairs to the second floor were in poor shape but there were just enough steps left to make it up.
The floor of the next story was in worse shape. Massive holes in the floor made every step a cautious one. Falling to the ground floor wasn’t the problem, re-alerting the ABU was.
Roland led the group of Oscerians and one Lugazian to the edge where they peered down, watching the ABU continue its search.
“Why is it better up here?” Lyra asked.
“What do you notice different about this one?” Roland’s voice was like an instructor’s.
“It does look different,” Kade said.
They all looked at the Armored Battle Unit as it trudged along the ground. In place of the view windows for the pilot was a solid plate with a coat of arms on it. Replacing the arms were left and right cannons. And the jet thrusters didn’t point down for flight, but only out for fast forward movement along the ground.
“What is it?” Kade asked.
“Generation one ABU,” Roland told him. “Despite its lack of features, it is far more dangerous than those we faced on Tagle. And there is no pilot to reason with. “
“It’s fully automated?” Lyra asked with some interest.
“Fully automated and answerable only to an Emperor or an Emperor’s seal. If the rumors about the sword are true, that Emperor would be Aurtune. If memory of study is correct.”
“The Seal of Argus,” Kade said.
“Which they must have,” Tuk added, pointing over the wall dividing them and the pyramid.
On the other side were four Oscerian soldiers, checking over the dead Lugazians. A second ABU burst from around the pyramid and slowed as it neared the soldiers. One of them made gestures to the machine as if giving it orders.
“Why are other Oscerian’s here?” Kade asked.
Tuk took note of their weapons. “Think they’re after the sword, too?”
Kade looked at his hand-gun. The situation had gone from hopeless to worse. This wasn’t like Tagle where they could sneak up on a few of their people. These soldiers were facing front and ready for a fight. He surveyed the area and found little in the way of cover. Besides their current position, the combat area was open.
“We need a distraction,” Kade said. “Something to clear the path.”
“I’ll go,” Tuk said, rushing back to the stairs.
“Negative,” Kade told him. “We don’t split up.”
“Trust me, General. Once I’m down there, I’ll lead them away so the rest of you can move in.” Tuk didn’t wait for a response before he was already heading down the crumbling stairs.
“That ABU is going to find him,” Lyra said.
“Tuk has always been good at stealth,” Roland added.
“We have to give him some sort of chance. Cover or…” Kade glanced back at Poyn. “What else do you have?”
Poyn gestured to Tuk. “He took my rifle.”
“Tare put you in an unknown situation and all he gave you was that gun?”
Poyn took note of all the Oscerians staring at him. None of them believed his claim of being under-equipped.
“Fine,” Poyn reached into one of the many pockets of his uniform. “I was hoping to save this.” He pulled out a canister with a yellow liquid in it.”
“Is that a spell grenade?” Kade asked.
Poyn nodded. “Storm type. Category three.”
“Perfect.” Kade snatched the weapon from Poyn’s hand and twisted the top of it. A burning green symbol appeared on the top then blackened.
“Everyone, get down.” Kade reared the weapon back and threw it well away from the building. Everyone got as low as
they could and covered their heads.
The grenade flew through the air and burst open before hitting the ground. Only Kade dared to peek out and watch as a storm burst from the grenade, growing larger every second. Lighting blazed out from the sphere of dark clouds. Its circumference was ten yards wide but the winds it caused went out in all directions. Those outside of its eye were relatively safe, save for the gusts and possible lighting strikes. Anyone caught in the middle of it would have had the air ripped from their lungs and been pelted by heavy and condensed rains.
Kade turned his attention to the troops. Two of them broke formation and made their way to the storm. Both ABUs did the same.
“That won’t last very long,” Kade said. “While they’re distracted, we need to move.”
The others made their way to the stairs and rushed down. Poyn missed a step and fell through. He hit the floor hard enough to rattle him but not break bones.
Kade helped the Lugazian back to his feet, keeping his eyes forward and scanning for Tuk. There was no sign of the stealthy Oscerian and he knew there were at least two more troops between him and the pyramid.
There was no time to wonder about Tuk’s whereabouts. He’d have to trust that the man knew what he was doing.
Roland and the others pressed their backs against the wall. Lyra noticed the ABU already turning back toward them.
“It’s coming back,” she said.
Kade took a breath. He didn’t want to fight his own people. But if the plan was to work, he had to earn Jer’ren’s complete trust. He spun out from behind the wall and opened fire on the two Oscerians between his group and the pyramid. His shots hit the sand at their feet. If he could get them to surrender, they could do this with no one getting hurt.
The two troops strafed to the side, blasting their own shots. Poyn dropped to one knee, his leg taking a direct hit. Kade emptied his gun and dropped it. There was no cover to reload and against the superior firepower of the opposing troops, it was worthless. He opted, instead, to make a play for the dead Lugazian troop’s weapons.
Bullets pelted the sand at his heels and Kade dove for one of the rifles. He grabbed it and rolled to his feet, spraying cover fire at the Oscerian soldiers.
The familiar sound of thrusters took his attention from the battle for one moment. Kade looked over his shoulder to see the second ABU making its way toward them.
“Lyra!” Roland yelled.
Kade snapped back around to see his teammate dead on the ground. He fired at the troops, giving Roland a chance to move. Poyn dropped to his stomach, grabbing Lyra’s hand gun and took aim. His shot was well placed, hitting Alpho straight in the eye, dropping him to the ground.
“Cease fire!” Kade yelled. “Drop your weapon!” He ordered the last Oscerian troop standing.
The woman kept her gun up but stopped firing. Her eyes fell on Kade and she stared at him with some familiarity. “General Lorenth?”
“Not anymore,” Kade said. “Why are you here? Who are you?”
Sand from the ABU started to flow toward Kade’s rear. The woman held her hand up, halting the machine.
“I’m Sergeant Inja M’cliv. Why are you here?”
“Sergeant!” another Oscerian soldier yelled. “Weapons down!”
Poyn and Roland spun their guns to aim at Exin and Calsin who rushed toward the stand-off.
“Calm yourselves, everyone,” Roland said as soothingly as he could. The initial fight had caught everyone off guard but this time they were staring each other in the eyes and in very precarious formations.
“Hold your fire, Exin,” Inja said.
“Is that General Kade?” Exin asked.
“Everyone just stay calm,” Roland repeated.
“You killed my teammate,” Kade gestured to Lyra.
“Your man— A Lugazian— killed mine.” She gestured to the wounded Alpho next to her. “Why are you teamed with a Lugazian?”
“It’s a long story, Sergeant.”
“I’m sure.” She looked at Roland and Poyn, then at her own troops. It was an even match between ground troops. Her only advantage was having the ABUs on her side. “Why are you on Dinrall?”
“That’s a long story as well.”
“There’s only one reason to be here,” Exin said.
“Is that true?” Inja looked at Kade. “You here for the Sword of Aurtune?”
“Assuming it’s actually here, do you stand in my way if I am?” Kade asked.
“Lugaz already stole the Spirit Ignition Stone. And now Lugazian troops are here, in front of the very pyramid that supposedly houses the sword. Yeah, I stand in your way, Assassin of Emperors.”
Kade held his tongue. There was no point in claiming his innocence. This wasn’t the time or place. Out of the corner of his eye was movement. Kade looked toward the pyramid to spot Tuk sneaking inside. He narrowed his eyes.
The expression gave Inja reason to glance back. “What was that look?”
“Something I hope to be wrong about. Listen, Sergeant, I need—”
“You need to just stay calm while I figure out what to do.”
“Why weren’t you executed?” Calsin asked.
“I was banished to Razen,” Kade told her.
“Emperor Pan must have gone soft on you.”
“It was Arista’s choice— Did you say Emperor Pan?”
“I guess you wouldn’t know,” Inja said. “He was made Emperor Permanerea just yesterday.”
“Why did you do it, General?” Calsin asked.
Kade shot her a look. “I didn’t.”
“We were all clamoring for you to be Emperor, so why—”
“I said, I didn’t!”
“Watch your tone,” Inja said. “These are my troops. No one yells at them but me.”
Kade took a moment to calm himself. “Sergeant, if you would just—”
“I believe Kade’s innocence,” Roland interjected. “We have already gone over the events and the theory of the Guilds involvement.”
“I knew it!” Exin shouted, lowering his gun.
“Private!” Inja corrected him.
“It’s OK, Sarge. This would fit my own theory. And there was something I saw on the feed screen. I almost missed it but played it back to be sure.”
“What are you talking about?” Calsin asked. “Is this another Guild conspiracy theory?”
“The spark,” Exin went on. “Just before Dom Argus’s first coughing fit. There was a spark at his side. His cloak covered it right away.”
“Can you show this to me?” Kade asked.
“When we get back.”
“There is no, ‘when we get back’,” Inja ordered. “We’re here for one thing and it isn’t to provide evidence for a trial.”
“We’re here for the same thing, Sergeant,” Kade said. “How about we team up? That will make things go much smoother. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“So you can stab us in the back? Exin and Calsin, stay here and guard the prisoners. I’m sure the Emperor will be happy to see Kade back in a cell. I’ll be inside, getting the sword. If any of them moves, you have my permission to shoot.”
42
Kade’s hands shook as Inja rushed toward the pyramid. He didn’t know what would happen if she got hold of the sword and took it back to Pan. If the new Emperor was the tyrant Kade thought he was, having the Sword of Aurtune would only make things worse. The only saving grace was that Jer’ren had the stone, which meant that neither world was acquiring the power of both artifacts.
Still, Kade had a mission and a plan. Getting the sword back to Lugaz was the plan.
“Your name is Exin?” Kade asked.
The man sized up the meaning of the question. He wanted to trust Kade but he had orders. “Affirmative.”
Kade looked back at Inja to make sure she was out of earshot. “You’re following orders. Good. That’s what a good soldier does.”
Calsin nudged her gun forward. “Quiet!”
“Exin, do you know wha
t happens if that sword gets back to Osceria?” Kade asked, thinking there was only getting through to one of them.
“I said, quiet,” Calsin barked.
“Shut up!” Exin told her. The command was unexpected. “It will be kept safe in Osceria, in the palace where it belongs.”
Kade shook his head. “It won’t. Aurtune placed it here because it was too dangerous. And now both worlds want it. But only one can claim it. Lugaz must have the sword.”
“What?” Calsin asked in disbelief.
“Lugaz, not the Empress. I need you to trust me.”
“I want to, General,” Exin said, just barely lowering his gun.
“You said that you thought there was something else going on with Dom Argus’s murder. That tells me that, at least, a part of you believes in my innocence. Listen to that voice.”
“Exin?” Calsin warned. “Don’t listen to him. He killed Dom Argus.”
Exin shot her a leery glance. He was cautious about trusting his gut but Kade had won the war. That had to count for something. “What’s your plan?” Exin asked.
“We’re going to end the fighting between our worlds,” Roland broke in. “Both Pan and Jer’ren must be stopped.”
Exin took a good look at Kade and Roland, trying to surmise the best course of action. His eyes darted to Poyn. It was a small testament to what Oscerians and Lugazians working side by side could be like. There they were, mortal enemies from generations back, yet Kade had saved Poyn.
“You’re going to end the wars?” Exin asked. “For good?”
Kade nodded.
“Then, I’m in,” Exin said.
“You’re what?” Calsin asked, turning her gun on her teammate.
Exin moved unexpectedly fast, spinning around, slamming the stock of his rifle into Calsin’s face. The soldier dropped to the ground, knocked out by the force of the blow.
“Sorry, Calsin.” He turned to face Kade. “It never made sense to me that the general of the whole Oscerian military—the same man who forced Lugaz to surrender— would kill the Emperor when he was being given the Mantle.”